Officials at the Third Nuclear Power Plant (
"Since the floating oil is far from the plant, we don't have to worry about it," Chen Pu-tsan (
Officials at the plant received notification from the Coast Guard Administration (
PHOTO: CHANG CHUNG-YI, TAIPEI TIMES
Chen said the Coast Guard Administration suspected that the floating oil was from the half-sunk Greek ship, the M.V. Amorgos, which ran into submerged reefs near the Lungkeng Ecological Conservation Preservation Area (
"We have already taken preventative measures by placing booms outside the cooling water intake system," Chen said.
Chen said that they would not start to worry about the floating oil until it was within 1km of the plant's intakes.
Chen added, however, that the plant's management remained concerned about the issue, as power output may have to be reduced if water supply to the cooling system is reduced.
The coast guard began work to collect the floating oil yesterday.
EPA head Lin Jun-yi (
On land, the army took over the cleanup work entirely yesterday with 1,500 soldiers removing sticky oil from gullies in Lungken and other two sites nearby.
The Chinese Petroleum Corp (中油) yesterday tried to set up booms around the stranded ship as demanded by the EPA, but failed due to bad weather.
An estimated 200 tonnes of oil and 60,000 tonnes of iron ore remain on the ship.
Meanwhile, five members of the Control Yuan visited the affected area in Lungkeng yesterday morning and opened their investigation into the case in the afternoon at the National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium in Hengchun (恆春).
Control Yuan member Chao Jung-yao (趙榮耀) said that the oil spill had greatly affected local marine and coastal ecosystems. The investigation, Chao said, would focus on response measures taken by agencies involved immediately after oil began leaking out on Jan. 18.
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